


Phil Coulson and Case of Terrible Timing at the Museum

by RedBlazer



Series: Bucky Barnes and the Case of "Everyone I Know is Way Cooler than I am" [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. References, Fanboy Phil Coulson, M/M, POV Phil Coulson, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Reunions, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 17:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5300477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedBlazer/pseuds/RedBlazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil Coulson takes a trip to the Smithsonian exhibit on the life of Steve Rogers: The First Avenger.</p><p>Shenanigans ensue. Because of course they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Phil Coulson and Case of Terrible Timing at the Museum

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, so I have a lot of feels about he Civil War trailer. So I wrote this. Because Coulson's love for Captain America memorabilia is my favorite.
> 
> This fic takes place after the events of 'I Understood that Reference' and 'Bucky Barnes and the Super Hot Ex Boyfriend Brawl'. Enjoy!

He couldn’t keep himself away. Even with the constant threat of the Clairvoyant and keeping his team safe, Phil couldn’t stay away.

It’s his collection, and the center of the whole exhibit after all. Well, maybe not the center of the exhibit. But it’s close to the displays of the prototype shields and Dum Dum Dugan’s cigar box.

Sixty mint condition Captain America trading cards. A bit of boxing around the edges. And a few of them are bloodstained (that added to the illusion of his death, but he’s still not over the fact that they had to be sacrificed). A few of them were part of his grandfather’s collection as a kid. Coulson found them in the attic during a brutally boring summer vacation.

Phil would argue that the whole exhibit would have flown a lot better if it began with the cards and moved on from there. That way people moving through the museum would see the expected image of Cap from the war and then learn more about his upbringing and background as they move through the small theaters showing black and white footage of Steve with the Howling Commandoes and a particularly fascinating recording of the dress rehearsals of Steve’s war bond tour. It’s glaringly obvious that Steve has no acting talent. He keeps knocking the dancers over my accident and they had to recast Hitler after Steve’s pantomime punch actually landed and broke the guy’s jaw.

Not that Phil would claim to know any better than the people at the Smithsonian.

But they could have done better.

The bathroom access alone is pretty appalling.

Okay. Moving on.

He brings Skye with him only because he thinks it’ll be less conspicuous to look like a father dragging his daughter though the museum rather than just a middle aged man by himself. It has nothing to do with the fact that Skye keeps rolling her eyes and sighing under her breath every time he insists on staying for just another viewing of Steve’s news reel introduction ‘Cap’s Wartime Minute’ of footage from the frontlines. Because Phil is 90% sure that it’s Marseilles superimposed behind Steve when he didn’t visit that part of France for another 3 months.

Plus, Skye deserves a bit of a treat after how well she’s done in her training to become a full-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the coming months.

“Coulson, I’m starting to lose it here.” She tells him, knocking her shoulder against his

Phil sighs, nodding. “I saved the uniforms for last. Now this is especially interesting because the Commandoes were afforded a certain amount of freedom in their clothing.” Phil tells her, holding open the glass door to the main rooms where the exhibit is.

“Can’t wait.” She says, ducking into the flow of the room, staying close. After everything that’s happened, Phil can’t blame her. She trusts just about as many people as Phil does. He could count that number on one hand.

It’s opening week of the exhibition, people crowding all around them. Kids in Captain America costumes and adults wearing ball caps with his shield insignia across the front. Around them, the general milling of people and discussion of the displays of Steve’s possessions drones on. He and Skye pretty much walk in silence, scooting around people until they can reach the mannequins. Steve’s at the front. His old uniform complete with the show shield he used to carry, and the faded stars and stripes of the uniform he was found wearing in the ice.

Coulson remembers the day he got the call that the impossible had been found. It seemed like a prank call. But then there had been meetings about how to unfreeze him and just how they were going to introduce him to the modern world. Whole lot of good that discussion was. Cap figured them out in about 30 seconds. The hair of the woman they put in the room with him was enough of an indicator that something was wrong.

That’s what they got for cutting corners. Of course Steve would have noticed.

“I do like the gadgets.” Skye tells him, conceding on that one. Bless her. “Much as I love S.H.I.E.L.D. our gadgets can be conspicuous. Those guys had style. Early S.H.I.E.L.D. had class. We’ve barely even explored wearable tech.” Skye says, turning around and addressing him as she walks backwards though the crowd.

Coulson lets her go on about contact lenses and smart fibers, no doubt on her mission to bankrupt their team.

“Oof—“ A guy exclaims as Skye marches over his foot and there’s really nowhere for either of them to go in the crowd.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Skye apologizes, spinning around.

“It’s no problem,” The man says, offering her a friendly smile that makes laugh lines appear around the corners of his grey eyes. “We’re packed to the gills in here anyway, was bound to happen.”

“You okay, Buck?” A voice asks from one of the display cases near them. Coulson’s stomach clenches.

“I’m fine, just general clumsiness.” The guy, apparently Bucky Barnes answers. Coulson might not be on the team, but he’s read the briefings on the Avengers.

So if Bucky is here—

“Have you seen the sketches yet?” the other man asks, turning around and asking Bucky.

And there he is. Steve Rogers. Dressed inconspicuously in a black hoodie and a ball cap pulled low over his eyes.

Steve goes stock still, Skye tenses in front of him at the movement. She’s been trained to assess any situation for danger. “Is there a problem?” Skye asks him.

Steve’s staring him down over Bucky’s shoulder. His blue eyes intensely looking over Phil’s face over and over again.

“Son of a bitch.” Steve says softly. He nods to himself, probably cataloging every instance that Nick Fury referenced Phil dying before his eyes.

But Steve’s smart enough not to drag Skye or Bucky into anything they shouldn’t get into. Even though Skye’s looking between Steve and gigantic photo of his face before the serum taking up an entire wall. Her mouth opening and closing, a blush rising on her cheeks.

Steve has that effect on pretty much everyone.

“How have you been?” Steve asks finally. It seems he’s settled on nonchalance rather than anger at being mislead. He’s been around spies for far too long.

Phil fights the urge to bark out a peel of laughter. “Busy. I suspect you have been too.”

Steve slings an arm around Bucky’s shoulder and smiles.

He’s read the updates on what The Avengers have been up to since he got his own team. He knows about Bucky and his new arm. He knows about the attack on Tony by The Mandarin. And he always knew about it, but Natasha and Clint are living together.

It’s another thing to see it.

And if Phil is honest with himself, deep down in his little spy heart he feels like confidentiality can go ahead and screw itself in this instance.

It’s good to know that someone from the old days knows he isn’t dead.

And if he and Steve have lunch at a Café a couple blocks over, catching up on the shenanigans that Coulson’s team have been up to while Bucky and Skye talk about bands and their favorite dim sum places, he’s not going to mention it in his report.

Though, Steve sounds incredibly jealous of the plane.

**Author's Note:**

> This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for the Civil War trailer. I cried like 10 times about it already.


End file.
